The Health Care Reform the People Don't Want  —  David Leonhardt has another in a growing series of great David Leonhardt pieces on the nutty and dysfunctional nature of “fee-for-service” medicine in which doctors are paid for doing stuff rather than for treating illness.

Robert Gibbs on FNS  —  On today's Fox News Sunday, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs admitted President Obama had been prepared to answer questions about the Henry Louis Gates arrest at his press conference last week.  Bret Baier, filling in for regular host Chris Wallace, asked Gibbs …

Obama plays golf....again  —  President Obama has become quite the golf fanatic since he began his presidency.  —  The commander in chief is out on the links again today, playing a round at Andrews Air Force Base.  This is the 10th time in as many weeks that Obama has found time to squeeze in some golf …

Joltin' Joe whiffs on his own curveball  —  After watching their stimulus package fail to stimulate and an increasing number of Americans wondering whether President Barack Obama has the first clue on economics, Vice President Joe Biden steps back into the fray to rescue his partner.

Obama, Gates and the American Black Man  —  Providence, R.I.  —  IN a speech delivered earlier this year, during Black History Month, Attorney General Eric Holder drew headlines by criticizing the tenor of public discourse on race.  “Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot …

Whale wedged on cruise ship bow  —  A rare whale was discovered wedged on to the bow of a cruise ship when it docked in a Canadian port.  —  The 70ft fin whale, a threatened species in Canada, was found when the Sapphire Princess docked at the Port of Vancouver, the cruise company said.

White House: CBO ‘overstepped’ in its analysis  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House has criticized the Congressional Budget Office's findings that the Obama administration's proposal to control Medicare costs would yield a moderate savings of $2 billion over the next decade.

Sarah Palin leaving governor's post amid confusion, criticism  —  Supporters struggle to explain her departure, and some Alaska lawmakers say she has shown little interest in state business since returning from her failed vice presidential bid.  —  Reporting from Anchorage — Up here in Alaska …

As Health-Care Quality Rises, So Does Price  —  With Heart Attack Treatments, as Quality Rises, So Does Cost  —  Two decades ago, a famous clinical experiment showed that if a patient in the throes of a heart attack chewed and swallowed an aspirin tablet, the risk of dying fell from 13.2 percent to 10.2 percent.

The evidence Bush tried to hide  —  Photos from US spy satellites declassified by the Obama White House provide the first graphic images of how the polar ice sheets are retreating in the summer.  The effects on the world's weather, environments and wildlife could be devastating

Conrad: Democrats Alone Can't Pass Health Care  —  Despite their 60-vote majority in the Senate, a top Democrat argued today that Democrats alone can't pull health care reform through Congress.  —  “There are not the votes for Democrats to do this just on our side of the aisle,” Sen. Kent Conrad …

Clinton: Iran's pursuit of nukes ‘futile’  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon, declaring to Tehran: “Your pursuit is futile.”  —  “What we want to do is to send a message to whoever …

U.S. Command Considering Private Security on Afghan Front Lines  —  Firm Could Have Broad Protection Authority in Afghanistan  —  The U.S. military command is considering contracting a private firm to manage security on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan, even as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates …

Daley weighs in on Gates controversy  —  President Obama should have gathered the facts first before commenting on Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s encounter with Cambridge, Mass. police, Mayor Daley said Saturday, wading into the controversy.  —  Daley said Obama …